Today we’d like to introduce you to Pravesh Rai.
Hi Pravesh, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
North Hill Worship Church was founded in June 7, 2015 by two brothers and their families, Nar Rai and Khamba Rai. It started when they moved from Worcester, MA to Akron, OH looking for a more better and affordable life as they had just recently immigrated to the USA from the refugee camps of Nepal. In Worcester MA, they had faced the hardships of starting a new life, finding a decent pay job, transportation and language barrier. After they decided to move to Akron, OH they encountered another challenge, which was finding the right church that suited their faith and language. Having trust in God and listening to His words, they took the courageous step of starting their own church from sketch. They started as just 2-3 families in Nar Rai’s home and by going door to door and preaching the good news of God, slowly their church began to grew into a larger size. In 2016, they started renting a church and for three years they faithfully worshiped there. Then, their youngest brother, Pastor Pritha Rai also joined them and soon after, their other brother Pastor Aita Rai also joined as well. However, God had bigger plans for their ministry and in 2019, God blessed them with their own church. Ever since then, we all have been praising God, doing community service, and running a yearly bible school there. Most recently, their third brother Pastor Champa Rai has also joined in the ministry. Now there has been 3 pastors and 2 founders. The founding brothers never wanted to step into the role of a pastor and was satisfied remaining in the leadership position and humbly serving God, the pastors, and the families. The church has now been more than just a Nepali speaking church. We have people from many backgrounds and walks of life come into the church.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No journey is smooth and easy. There were many challenges the founding brothers faced when they began their ministry. The very first challenge they faced was communicating because they were uneducated and came from a different country with different culture and understanding. Another challenge they faced was the criticism and lack of support from other Nepali Churches. They were only told that they will fail but they trusted in God. And most importantly, managing transportation and finding a place to worship God. There were lots of families who did not have a ride to the church so we had to search for a van. The size of the church grew so finding a church or any type of building that was budget friendly was also very difficult.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
North Hill Worship Church is the name of the church that the two founding brothers, Nar Rai and Khamba Rai started back in 2015. It is now a multi-culture, multi-language church where we hold Youth Fellowship and Mother’s Service every Saturday, We have our Sunday Services. We also engage in lots of community services such as hosting free fresh and hot foods every year and give essential gifts to those who come. We also donate to charities and help out in our local food banks. We help new families from different state or country settle down in our city. We participate in Keep Akron Beautiful, where we walk street to street and pick up trash. We are known for being friendly and welcoming anyone into our church. We do not discriminate or judge anyone. We are also widely known for our annual bible school, NHSOW. This year was our 6th year of the bible school. We get about 45-90 students each year from around the nation. We offer housing, meals, essential studying materials, and very in-depth and comprehensive lectures and practical sessions.
What sets us apart from others is that we are more than just a regular church. We don’t just preach about good deeds. We demonstrate it. We search for families or individuals who are struggling and we give them much support as possible. Another thing that sets us apart is that we hold a lot of events where we bring in famous Nepali music artist and highly anointed and educated pastors for those events and its always free to anyone that is interested. We lookout not only for the members in our church but anyone who reaches out to us.
I am proud being a part of this church’s history. Nothing stopped us from moving forward and above. From what people thought was impossible, God made it possible and we are one of the biggest Nepali churches in Akron. Not only do we have Nepalese people but also Americans and African Americans and many more. We were also the first Nepali Church to buy our own church building and we let other Nepali church use it for free for their big events.
I am the son of Khamba Rai and I started NHWC Visual Arts as a social media platform to spread awareness about us.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Having trust in God and not leaning on your own understanding. Being patient and to wait for God’s timing. Having strong perseverance, the will to not give up and when things don’t go the way it is supposed to, looking at the brighter side. And lastly, being able to take the risk when God says so. No what if’s. Just take that step with faith.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Northhillworshipchurch.org
- Instagram: North Hill Worship Church
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NHWCVA/
